And they didn’t want to engage in bidding wars for free-agent backstops Bengie Molina or Ramon Hernandez this week.

But they are apparently willing to bet on a catcher who will turn 34 in April, as the team remained close to a trade for Florida’s Paul Lo Duca yesterday.

Club officials were hopeful they’d be sending out an official release before the end of last night. The deal is apparently for one unnamed minor-league prospect.

The Marlins, who traded second baseman Luis Castillo on Friday, will need to fill that spot. But it’s uncertain whether they coveted Anderson Hernandez or Jeff Keppinger.

Lo Duca is the oldest of the catchers the Mets coveted this winter, and he will earn $12.5 million over the next two years ($6.25 million this season and next).

Hernandez, 29, and Molina, 31, were expected to get three- or four-year pacts in the $8-9 million range during or after the winter meetings. The Mets made initial, simultaneous three-year offers in the $6-to-$7 million range.

One source predicted Hall, 30, would earn somewhere close to $3 million in arbitration. He batted .287 with five homers and 48 RBIs in 135 games last season.

The Mets were resistant to trading Heilman for Hall, a source told The Post on Friday, although they were more open to using Heilman in a deal for Tampa Bay closer Danys Baez or infielder Julio Lugo, who would replace Kaz Matsui at second base.

Trading Heilman for Baez would make more sense, since it would be a pitching-for-pitching swap. But moving Heilman for Lugo, who will make $4.95 million and is a natural shortstop, seems ludicrous.

Lo Duca, a three-time All-Star, batted .285 with six homers and 57 RBIs. He managed a .339 on-base percentage on the year but batted just .191 in September. His statistics suggest a player who, in recent seasons, wears down after the All-Star Game.

In other news, the Mets were linked to deflated slugger Sammy Sosa over the weekend in the Dominican Republic, where some officials traveled last week. Sosa is reportedly negotiating with several teams, and he was a target of GM Omar Minaya last winter.

A fan website reported that Minaya told El Nacional, a paper in the Dominican, “Sammy only needs an opportunity to play and show that he’s recovered.”